


My Immortal

by xtremeroswellian



Category: Smallville, Supernatural
Genre: Car Accidents, Dreamsharing, F/M, Past Lives, Reincarnation, Unfinished, discontinued fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-30
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:22:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23932237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xtremeroswellian/pseuds/xtremeroswellian
Relationships: Chloe Sullivan & Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester/Chloe Sullivan





	1. Chapter 1

Chloe Sullivan only had one thought in mind as she headed back home to Metropolis, Kansas: finish her English Lit paper before her 8 a.m. class the next day. She’d spent the weekend in Smallville hanging out with her best friend and unrequited love, Clark Kent, only to leave again feeling the same sense of dissatisfaction and malcontent she always felt upon leaving.

Tucking some hair behind her ear, she focused her eyes on the road and drove for nearly an hour in complete silence, trying to concentrate on writing her paper in her mind.

The sight of the flipped mustang on the side of the interstate quickly chased away all thoughts of Hamlet and assignments, and she quickly eased her car off onto the shoulder of the road, scrambling out of it and going to the driver’s side window, kneeling down.

A pretty, slightly older blonde woman was in the seat, hanging upside down, her eyes shut, and blood dripping from a gash in her forehead.

Chloe winced a little as her hand came into contact with some of the shattered glass on the pavement. “Hey, can you hear me?” she asked anxiously.

The woman turned her head toward her a little, her eyebrows furrowing.

“You were in an accident. But it’s gonna be okay--I’m gonna get you some help.” Chloe pulled her cell phone from her pocket, starting when the woman’s eyes opened.

“Who are you?” she murmured.

“My name’s Chloe, and I’m gonna help you. You’re gonna be okay,” she said, hoping she was telling the truth. “What’s your name?”

There was a moment of silence, then a quiet response, “Meg.”

Chloe smiled a bit. “All right, Meg, I’m gonna call for help, okay?”

“No…I’m okay, I…I hate hospitals.” She groaned, and reached down, unfastening her seatbelt. She groaned again as she bumped her head. “Can you help me out of here?”

Chloe hesitated. “I’m not sure we should move you--you could have a neck or spinal cord injury--”

“Please, I’m fine, I just…need to get out of this car.”

Drawing in a breath, she nodded and carefully helped Meg crawl out of the window of her car. Glancing her over for injuries, Chloe took note of a few cuts and bruises, but by the looks of things the woman had been incredibly lucky. “What happened?”

“I think I fell asleep,” Meg answered, looking at her car, and then over at Chloe’s red beetle. “Do you think you can give me a ride?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Chloe answered. “But I really should get you to a hospital just to have you looked over.”

Meg flashed her a smile. “Don’t worry about it. I heal quickly.”

She couldn’t help but feeling uneasy, but she didn’t know why as she led the other blonde woman to her car and climbed into the driver’s seat. She started the engine. “Where you headed?”

Meg’s eyes turned black and she looked at Chloe with a smirk. “You’ll see.” Before Chloe had the chance to respond, Meg had knocked her out cold with a blow to the head. “Stupid humans. Always so willing to risk their lives for complete strangers.” She shook her head in amusement and then climbed out of the car, dragging the younger woman into the backseat, tying her hands and gagging her.

Meg smiled at her for a long moment. “This is the beginning of a long and beautiful friendship. I just know it.”


	2. Chapter 2

_“Anna, I’m home,” William called as he stepped in through the front door of their small house, setting his briefcase on the floor. When his beautiful wife stepped through the kitchen door, drying her hands on a towel, he smiled as their eyes met._

_Anna smiled back, tucking a strand of her curly brown hair behind one ear and meeting him halfway, hugging him. “How was your day?”_

_He kissed her cheek, still holding her. “Better now.”_

_She rested her chin on his shoulder, content to just be in his arms. “I love you.”_

_William smiled and closed his eyes. “I love you too,” he murmured. “Forever.”_

* * *

When Dean awoke with his head against the passenger seat window, the first thing he realized was that his brother was listening to some God-awful type of music that he vowed never to let anyone play in his precious car. Sitting up abruptly, he changed the channel and shot Sam a glare. “What the hell was that?”

Sam smirked at him before focusing his attention on the road once more. “Fall Out Boy.”

“How the hell did they get a recording deal?” he demanded, annoyed. His brother didn’t respond, just continued to smirk, which annoyed him even more. “Where are we?”

“About halfway between the Asheville and Statesville.”

After a moment of silence, Dean looked at him. “What state?”

“North Carolina. You know, Dean, you really suck at geography.”

“Bite me, College Boy.”

Sam chuckled and flipped on the turn signal, shifting into the far right lane and taking the exit ramp. “So you were out cold for like, five hours.”

He shrugged and looked out the window, propping his arm up on the door. “Yeah, well the next time you fall asleep with I Love Lucy on, I’m kickin’ your ass. I was dreaming about some weird couple from the fifties or sixties.”

He snorted. “Well at least you weren’t dreaming about demons.”

“I told you I don’t dream about that crap.”

Sam shrugged and a comfortable silence fell between the two brothers.

* * *

When Chloe awoke it was hours later, and her head was pounding painfully. It took her a moment to place her surroundings and she realized she was in the back of her own moving car, her hands bound by rope that was digging painfully into her skin, and tape over her mouth. A thousand thoughts hit her all at once. How long had she been out? Where was she? What happened?

“Relax.”

Her eyes darted to the rearview mirror and her gaze met that of an unfamiliar hazel pair. She saw the woman smirk and she swallowed hard, trying to fight off a wave of nausea from the headache.

“Don’t try to escape, it won’t work,” Meg informed her casually. “You can’t run, you can’t hide, wherever you’d go I’d be two steps behind. So just sit back and try to enjoy the ride.”

Chloe slowly sat up in the backseat, looking out the window to try and get an idea of where they were. To her horror, she realized they weren’t even in Kansas, but in some large city. Her eyes wide, she forced herself to take as deep a breath as possible with tape over her mouth.

“We’ve still got a ways to go, Sweetie,” Meg informed her with another smirk. “Try to relax.”

She shot a look to the rearview mirror. She’d helped save this woman’s life, and in return, she’d been kidnapped.

“What? You think you’re going to guilt trip me because you stopped to help me back there?” She laughed, but it was a cold, dark laugh that made chills go down Chloe’s spine. “That was the whole plan, Chloe. You fell right into the trap I set.”

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“That’s right, I read your mind,” she said, nodding a bit and focusing on the road. “Nice car, by the way. Not as good as a Chevy, but it’s not bad.”

The woman was clearly crazy. Totally off the charts insane. Jesus, what the hell was going on?

“Now, come on. I can’t spill all the secrets at once, can I?” Meg smiled. “And I’m not crazy, just evil.”

Chloe knew that was true. She could feel it deep down in her bones. Doing her best to clear her mind and suppress her panic, she sat back against the seat. There had to be a way to get out of this.

There had to be.

* * *

“What is it?” Sam asked, glancing at his older brother as he returned to their table at the small diner they’d stopped at to eat dinner. He saw his brother’s cell phone lying on the table beside him, and Dean was pouring over a map intently.

“Coordinates. From Dad.” Dean didn’t look up at him, didn’t want to see or deal with the annoyance he knew would be on his younger sibling’s face.

Sighing softly, Sam picked up his soda and took a long drink. “Where to?”

Dean glanced at him in surprise. “According to the map?” He turned it to Sam could see the place he’d circled.

“St. Louis,” he murmured. He drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “How far is that from here?”

Smirking, Dean replied, “You tell me. I suck at geography, remember?”

Sam smirked back. “Funny.”

Sitting back in the booth, Dean shrugged a little. “About ten hours from here. Of course, if I drive we can make it in eight.”

“We can be there by evening.” He finished his soda and placed a tip on the table for their waitress.

He glanced up at Sam, raising his eyebrows. “What, no arguments about following Dad’s orders?”

Sam rolled his eyes and didn’t respond, heading to the register to pay their bill.

* * *

“Wakey wakey,” Meg said cheerfully.

Chloe groaned at the pain in her head, and at how drained her entire body felt. Everything was fuzzy. Something had happened…what was it? She tried to remember and had a vague image of Meg stopping the car at a rest stop and injecting her with some kind of needle and she’d passed out not long afterwards.

“We’re almost to our destination. Aren’t you excited?”

She blinked, trying to clear her blurry vision. Apparently when she’d been unconscious, Meg had taken the tape off her mouth, which was now sore. Her hands were still tied and the crazy woman had moved her to the passenger seat of the Beetle. “Why…are you doing this?” she managed to whisper.

“You know, it‘s not really all about you. You‘re only a small part of a larger plan.”

Nothing Meg said made any sense in Chloe’s mind. Everything was still too fuzzy.

“And then my father will take care of the rest.” Meg smirked and glanced at her sideways.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Your father?”

“Not for you to concern yourself with, Chloe. You have much worse things to worry about right now.” Suddenly the passenger door flew open seemingly of its own volition. “Have a nice trip.” She disconnected Chloe’s seatbelt and before Chloe could even register what was happening she was standing in the middle of a very crowded, heavily trafficked bridge.

Cars blared their horns, zooming past her at velocities that made her head spin and stomach turn. Everything was blurry and she closed her eyes, hoping when she opened them she’d find this had all been some strange nightmare.

But when she opened them she realized it was anything but a dream. She stood alone, hands tied in the midst of rush hour traffic in St. Louis, Missouri, four lanes of traffic buzzing by her. And not a single car was about to stop.

* * *

“You found anything yet?” Sam asked, glancing sideways at Dean who sat in the passenger seat of the Impala, searching the newspaper for anything that seemed out of the ordinary in an attempt to find out why their dad had sent them to St. Louis.

“No, nothing. Nothing unusual anyway. Cards won again,” Dean relayed with a smirk, glancing up from the paper and out the window. What he saw shocked him. A pretty blonde woman stood in the middle of the very busy interstate, hands tied and looking dazed. “Sam, stop the car!”

“What?” Sam looked at him like he’d grown another head.

“Stop the car!” he repeated loudly, already reaching for the door handle.

“Jesus, Dean, what--” He slammed on the brakes as he spotted the girl as well, his heart leaping into his throat. The cars behind him swerved into other lanes to avoid hitting him, honking their horns and making obscene gestures as they passed.

Dean was out of the car and running without a second’s hesitation. He dodged the moving vehicles as if it was something he did every day, and in less than thirty seconds flat, he’d reached the young woman. Wrapping his arms around her, he barely got them to the side of the road in time as a semi that didn’t even attempt to slow down flew past, splashing them with cold water from a puddle that the afternoon rain had left behind.

Not caring about that at the moment, he found himself gazing into her emerald-colored eyes and felt a spark ignite within him. “You okay?”

Still dazed, she nodded a little, her eyes locked on his, as well. “Who are you?” she whispered.

“My name’s Dean,” he said without hesitation, not using one of his fake names for a change. It just felt wrong. “Who are you?”

“Chloe,” she answered, shivering involuntarily.

Not thinking about it, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer.

“Dean!” Sam made his way across the lanes of traffic and moved over to where they stood on the shoulder of the road. “Hey, are you guys okay?”

“Fine…I think.” Dean couldn’t bring himself to look away from her.

Sam found himself gazing at her intently as well. “What--”

Before either of the guys realized what was happening, Chloe’s eyes fluttered shut, her body going limp.

Dean caught her before she hit the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

Sam couldn’t take his eyes off the girl whom was currently cradled in his arms in the back of his brother’s 67 Chevy Impala. Her face was pale, but her breathing was normal and he suspected that she’d fainted from the terror she must have felt standing in the midst of such heavy traffic. Nearly getting hit by a semi-truck had to be frightening.

“How’s she doing?” Dean asked, his fingers curled tightly around the steering wheel as he sped them down the road.

“She’s breathing fine,” he answered, not looking up at all, his gaze locked on Chloe’s face.

“Well, I think we found the reason Dad sent us here.” He glanced at his brother in the rearview mirror.

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed. “You think Dad knew that she was going to be standing in the middle of a bridge about to die?” he asked doubtfully.

“I don’t know, Sam, but it seems too coincidental.”

He couldn’t disagree with that, and in their line of work they’d long ago discovered there were no coincidences. He gently brushed some hair out of the pretty girl’s face and then glanced down at her wrists which were red and raw from having been tied together. A wave of protectiveness washed over him and it dawned on him that he wanted to hunt down whoever had done this to her and make them pay. He sucked in a breath. “Dean, who is this girl?” he whispered, finally lifting his gaze to meet his brother’s in the mirror.

Dean held his gaze for a moment. “You feel it too.” It wasn’t a question.

He nodded slightly.

His brother drew in a breath and shook his head a little. “I don’t know, Sammy,” he admitted.

Swallowing hard, Sam looked down at the young woman in his arms once more, wondering exactly who she was and why he and his brother both felt so drawn to her.

* * *

_Anna smiled at the sweet face of her infant son as he gazed up at her while drinking from a bottle. She rocked the chair lightly with one foot, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “I love you, Matthew,” she murmured._

_If someone had told her a few months ago that it was possible to be any happier than she already was with William, she wouldn’t have believed it. But since their son had come into their lives, she realized just how true it was. She’d never been this content or filled with joy before._

_When Matthew had been born only five months before, the nurses at the hospital agreed that he was the most beautiful child in the nursery. They were right, of course. Many babies weren’t even slightly cute when they were first born, but Matthew had been a sight to behold. His fine blonde hair and bright blue eyes were unmatched by the other children--at least in her opinion, which, admittedly was biased._

_Softly, Anna began to hum a lullaby as her son’s eyes began to drift shut and he started to fall asleep in her arms. She pressed another kiss against his soft skin and smiled, leaning her head back on the chair. “My sweet baby boy.”_

* * *

When Chloe awoke, she found herself gazing up into a pair of intensely worried pair of brown eyes. She wasn’t the type to wake up and find herself looking at complete strangers--ever, but she didn’t feel any sense of worry or fear with this particular stranger and that made no sense to her whatsoever.

“Hey, how are ya feeling?” he asked in concern, helping her sit up slowly.

“I feel…better. Where are we?” She glanced around and realized they were in a small motel room.

“A motel just outside of St. Louis.” He hesitated. “I’m Sam.”

She met his eyes once more and smiled very faintly. “Chloe. You must be…Dean’s brother?” she guessed.

He looked surprised. “Yeah, that’s right.”

“Younger brother.”

Chloe looked up to see Dean standing a few feet away, leaning against the wall with his arms folded across hic chest, gazing at her. A flash of something passed through her, though she couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. “You saved my life back there. Thank you.”

His eyes softened and he shrugged nonchalantly. “No problem. You just looked like you could use a hand.”

“You wanna tell us what happened?” Sam asked quietly and she turned her gaze back to him once more.

“I was kidnapped, actually.” She rubbed her wrists, wincing a little, but taking note of the fact they’d been carefully bandaged.  
“Yeah, we thought that might be the case,” Dean admitted. “Are you all right?”

“We could take you to a hospital,” Sam offered.

She shook her head. “No, I think I’m fine, actually. Just glad to be away from the psycho chick. Though I am upset about my car.” She sighed softly.

“What psycho chick?” Sam asked at the same time Dean asked, “What kind of car?”

The brothers exchanged looks and Sam rolled his eyes, turning back to Chloe.

“I don’t know.” She coughed, wincing a bit. “And it’s a red Beetle.”

“Nice,” Dean remarked, nodding in approval.

Sam rested a gentle hand on her back. “Dean, get her some water.”

Dean disappeared into the bathroom and returned a moment later with a glass of cold water. His fingers brushed against hers as she took the glass from him, shivering involuntarily and meeting his gaze. “Thanks,” she whispered.

Dean gazed back at her, having felt the same electricity run through him. “Sure.” He swallowed hard.

She took a small sip of the liquid, still gazing at Dean.

Sam glanced between them, then focused on her once more. “What can you tell us about this psycho chick who kidnapped you?” he asked gently.

“Are you two cops?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dean laughed out loud and Sam shot him a warning look.

“No, but…we wanna help.”

She gazed at Sam, and saw the sincerity in his eyes. Why the hell did he seem so familiar to her? Why did they both seem so familiar? She’d never met either of them before because she would definitely remember. “I was heading back to school in Metropolis--”

“Metropolis, Kansas?” Dean interrupted.

Chloe met his gaze once more, nodding a little in surprise. “Yeah.”

“Met U’s a good school,” Sam said with a faint smile, turning to exchange another look with his brother.

“Yeah, okay…what’s going on?” She looked between them, wanting answers.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked casually.

“I mean…why is it such a big deal about Metropolis?”

Sam was silent for a moment. “We’re from Kansas,” he answered truthfully.

She held his gaze. “Where at in Kansas?”

“Lawrence.” He smiled faintly, but there was a sadness in his eyes that she felt deep within her, and the same look was in Dean’s eyes, as well, though he fought harder to mask it than Sam.

“Well, this must be some kind of weird Kansan reunion,” she said lightly, taking another drink of her water. “I’m originally from Metropolis, but for the past few years I lived in Smallville.”

“Smallville…why does that sound familiar?” Dean murmured, his gaze shifting to a book that lay on the table across the room.

Chloe smiled a bit. “Well, it is the meteor freak capital of the world.”

Dean looked at her quizzically.

“Back in 1989 there was a huge meteor shower that hit Smallville. Killed and injured a lot of the civilians. The meteor rocks are pretty much all over the place. Some people believe that they’re not exactly…ordinary rocks,” she said vaguely.

“I’ve heard some of those stories,” Sam said, glancing at his brother. “Supposedly the meteor rocks give people certain strange abilities, right?” he asked, looking back at Chloe once more.

She grinned. “That’s the theory.”

“Yeah, you know I use to read some articles online about…” Sam’s voice trailed off and his eyes widened. “You’re Chloe Sullivan?”

“Wow, I’m famous.” Chloe couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Wait a minute, what are you talking about?” Dean shook his head.

She looked at him. “I’m a journalist. Well, working on it anyway. Back in high school I was the editor of the school paper the Torch--you must have read our online editions,” she said to Sam, who nodded.

“Chloe wrote articles about all the strange occurrences in Smallville,” Sam told his brother.

“Well, isn’t that ironic,” Dean muttered under his breath.

“Chloe, can you tell us about this woman who kidnapped you? What exactly happened?” Sam asked, shaking his head a little.

She drew in a breath. “Like I said, I was heading back to Met U from Smallville…and I saw a car that had flipped over on the side of the road. There weren’t any other cars around so I stopped. The driver…was hurt, but not badly. I helped her out of the car and she asked if I could give her a ride. After that, she knocked me out and I woke up in the backseat of my car, tied up and gagged.”

He winced a little. “Did she say anything?”

“She said a lot of things, but none of it really made sense.” She hesitated.

“What is it?” Dean prodded.

“This is gonna sound crazy…”

“I doubt it,” Sam said with a very faint smile.

She drew in a breath. “She read my mind. She knew I was planning to try and escape and that I thought she was crazy. She said she wasn’t crazy, just evil.” She glanced between them. “I know how out there that must sound--”

“Not as much as you might think,” Dean responded, leaning against the wall once more.

“What did she look like?”

Chloe focused on Sam once more. “Well, she was a few years older than me, probably about your age, and…she was pretty. Blonde, short hair. Taller than me, but not as tall as you or Dean. She said her name was Meg.”

The silence that fell over the room was deafening.

“Meg,” Sam whispered, slowly turning to look at Dean with wide eyes.

Dean looked just as surprised. “Sure sounds like her to me.”

“You guys know her?” Chloe asked in disbelief, looking between them.

“Chloe, this is important. What exactly did she say?” Sam asked carefully.

She searched her mind, trying to remember the woman’s exact words. “Something about how I was just a small part of a larger plan and that her father would take care of the rest. That was right before she threw me out of my car on the bridge. Oh, and she drugged me with something, I don’t know what it was--some kind of sedative, I think.”

Dean swore under his breath.

“All right. I’ve told you what I know. Now I wanna know how you guys know this woman.” Chloe’s eyes shifted from Sam to Dean and then back again.

“It’s…complicated,” Dean said vaguely.

“I’m a smart girl, just start talking,” she retorted.

Sam couldn’t help but smile a little. “Well, you are from Smallville.” He drew in a breath, ignoring the look he was getting from his brother. “The truth is…Meg’s…not exactly human.”

Chloe gazed at him silently, waiting.

“Dean and I…we uh…” He scratched his head. “We hunt things.”

“I’m assuming you’re not talking about squirrels and moose.”

Dean smirked. “Far from it, Sweetheart.”

She made a face at him and looked at Sam once more. “All right, so since you know about the meteor freaks in Smallville, I’m guessing you hunt things that aren’t exactly accepted by the general public.”

He smiled painfully. “That’s pretty much it.”

“And this Meg woman…she’s someone you’re hunting,” she concluded.

“More like…someone we thought was dead already,” Dean said.

She glanced at him. “What is she?”

“Some kind of demon,” he told her with a slight shrug. “We don’t really know.”

Sam looked down at the bedspread, a guilty look on his face.

Without thinking about it, she touched his arm. “I get the feeling this is pretty personal.” Her voice was soft.

He met her gaze, surprised by just how perceptive she was. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Bitch tried to kill us both,” Dean supplied. “And was planning to go after our father.”

“Because you hunt things like her?”

“Something like that,” he answered, meeting her gaze.

Chloe drew in a breath, tucking a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “Well, I still don’t know how I fit into all this, but…I say we find her and kick her ass.”

Both of them looked at her in surprise.

She rolled her eyes. “She did kidnap me and steal my car.”

“That alone is reason to kill her,” Dean said with a smirk. “If she messed with my car--”

Sam groaned. “One thing you’ll learn about Dean pretty quickly is that he’s in love with his car.”

“Really? What kind of car?” she asked curiously.

Dean grinned. “67 Chevy Impala.”

Something clicked in her mind. “Chevy…”

“Yeah, best car you could find on--”

“Meg mentioned that my car wasn’t as good as a Chevy,” she interrupted.

“Well, Beetles are nice, but even demons know that Chevy’s are better than--”

“Dean.” Sam cut him off, catching on immediately, his heart sinking. “Chloe was bait. For us.”


	4. Chapter 4

“Okay, so explain something to me.” Chloe sat across from the two of them in a booth at Monical’s Pizza in a back corner of the restaurant.

“Shoot,” Sam responded with a small smile, no hesitation before he answered.

Dean glanced at him sideways, wondering if he should be concerned by how open Sam was being with the pretty blond from Smallville. Sure, he knew there was something different about her and felt an unexplained connection to her, but he didn’t know why, and they didn’t really know anything about her. That didn’t seem to be concerning his little brother though. He hadn’t seen Sam be this open with anyone before--ever.

“Why me?” Her voice was quiet, but inquisitive. “Out of all the people this Meg chick could have chosen, why me?” She shook her head.

“Probably cause you’re from Kansas.” Dean shrugged.

“I don’t think so. She knew me by name. Said that she was waiting for me specifically. But that doesn’t make any sense--I don’t know either of you, or your father or her.”

Sam was silent for a moment. “She’s right. Meg coulda picked anyone, but she singled out Chloe.”

Dean shifted uneasily, taking a drink of his beer and leaning back in the booth. “Well, that’s just great.”

“We need to figure out why.” Sam glanced at her, then at his brother.

“Yeah, how do we go about that exactly? Call Meg up on the phone and say ‘hey, guess we didn’t kill you after all. By the way, why drag some innocent girl into this whole mess?’”

Chloe rolled her eyes at his sarcasm, and shook her head a little. “Let’s figure out what we do know.” She pulled the small notebook from her pocket and looked at Sam. “Got a pen?”

He nodded and passed it over to her.

“We’re all from Kansas. We all have backgrounds dealing with weirdness that most people are afraid to think about, let alone deal with.” She jotted these things down on the paper. “What else?”

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, but she didn’t seem to notice, too absorbed in her own thoughts.

“What do we know about Meg? We know she can read minds. And that’s she’s evil and completely nuts. Did you say she was from Massachusetts?” She glanced at Sam, who nodded, and she jotted that down on another page. “And she’s very strong, and smart.” A wave of tiredness washed over her and she closed her eyes.

“Chloe? You okay?” Sam asked worriedly, studying her.

“Yeah, fine. Just tired,” she admitted.

“Well why don’t we head back to the hotel? We could probably all use the sleep.”

Dean nodded his agreement and pulled some money out, standing up.

Chloe did the same. “I have money,” she said, reaching into her pocket.

He touched her arm, shaking his head. “I got it.”

Chloe gazed at him. His eyes were so intense. There was something slightly unsettling about them--and not in a bad way. “Okay,” she murmured.

Dean offered her a small smile and paid their bill, leading the way out of the restaurant and toward the hotel.

* * *

Long after both of the brothers had fallen asleep, Chloe sat up, wide awake, unable to shut her mind off. In the bed across the room Dean slept with one arm slung over the side. Sam lay curled up in the small chair, a blanket over him as he rested in one of the most uncomfortable positions Chloe could fathom sleeping in. He hadn’t hesitated offering to let her have the bed--in fact, he’d insisted. She’d reluctantly agreed only because she sensed he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

It was weird sharing a motel room with two guys she barely knew, but somehow she knew with certainty she wasn’t in any danger from either of them. On the contrary--she felt quite safe around them both, and she didn’t understand why. She chalked it up to just being another part of the whole odd experience. Casting a glance at both of them, she reached out and picked up her cell phone off the nightstand.

Sliding quietly out of bed, she headed into the small bathroom and dialed Clark’s cell number, hoping he’d answer.

A moment later, she heard his worried voice. “Chloe?”

“Clark, it’s me.”

“Chloe, where are you? Are you all right? We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

“I’m fine,” she said, keeping her voice low so she didn’t disturb her roommates. “Long story short, I was kidnapped, but I’m not anymore.”

There was a pause. “What?”

She quickly filled him in on Meg, and the two strangers who’d saved her life.

“And you’re sharing a motel room with these guys?” he asked, stunned.

“Not like that,” she said wryly, rolling her eyes. “You know me better than that, Clark. Look, they know about this particular brand of weirdness, so I’m helping them out and trying to figure out what’s going on.”

“Are you sure you’re all right? Where are you? I’ll be right there to help.”

“Actually, I think we’re okay for now. But if you can somehow locate my car, I’d be grateful,” she said lightly.

“I’ll do what I can. Are you sure you don’t need me?”

She paused. “I’m okay, Clark. Really. I promise.” She heard him sigh softly into the phone.

“All right. Keep me updated and if you get into any trouble, call me, okay?”

Chloe smiled a bit. “Will do. Bye, Clark.”

“Bye, Chloe.”

She hung up her phone and quietly slipped out of the bathroom once more, just in time to see Sam’s head tossing back and forth as if in the midst of a horrible nightmare.

Chloe didn’t hesitate moving to his side and resting a hand on his arm. “Sam?” she whispered worriedly.

He awoke with a start, breathing heavily and looking frightened.

“Hey, are you all right?” she asked, a wave of protectiveness she couldn’t comprehend washing over her.

Sam swallowed hard and sat up, moving the blanket off of him and shuddering involuntarily. “Nightmare.”

She kept her hand on his arm. “You know, sometimes it helps to talk about it,” she said gently.

He slowly turned his head to gaze at her. “I have them a lot,” he admitted.

Chloe nodded slightly. “Yeah, I’m sure, considering what you guys do. It must be really hard to get a goodnight’s sleep.”

At that moment, Dean’s snoring got a little louder and Sam smirked. “For some of us.”

She chuckled softly, then grew serious once more. “So these dreams you have…are they about anything specific?” Her tone was gentle, not intrusive at all.

He closed his eyes, resting his head in his hands. “My girlfriend…my…she was my girlfriend.” There was sorrow in his voice.

“Oh, Sam,” she whispered, sitting down on the arm of the chair. “I’m so sorry.” She rested a hand on his back.

“Her name was Jessica. Jessica Moore. We’d…been dating for two years.” He paused. “On Halloween…Dean came to get me because our dad was missing. When I got back, I went upstairs…I thought Jess was in the shower. But when I laid down…”

Chloe swallowed hard, dread washing over her in anticipation of what he was about to tell her.

“Chloe, it was horrible,” he whispered, his voice strained. “She was pinned to the ceiling. And then…there was fire everywhere...”

All the air left her lungs. “Oh, God,” she whispered, pulling him into her arms. He cried softly, leaning against her as she rubbed his back in an attempt to comfort him, kissing his forehead without thinking about it. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “It’s all right.”

Neither of them were aware that from across the room, Dean was watching them intently.

* * *

“We need to talk.”

Chloe looked up from where she was writing in her notebook to see Dean standing over her, his expression neutral. Her eyebrows furrowed a little and she looked over at where Sam lay sleeping peacefully in her vacated bed. She nodded a little and stood up, following him out of the room and out to the Impala, where he sat down on the hood, gazing at her.

“So…what’s up?” she asked uneasily.

“That’s what I’d like to know.” He folded his arms across his chest, studying her. “I woke up last night to hear Sam telling you all about Jessica and our family.”

“Oh.” Her voice was quiet and she hesitantly sat down beside him. “I guess he just needed to talk.”

“See, that’s the thing. My brother doesn’t talk to anyone--not even me.”

“Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger about what’s going on that it is to talk to the people close to you,” Chloe said softly.

“That’s the problem, Chloe.” He glanced at her sideways. “You don’t seem like a stranger to me. Or to Sam. Who are you?”

She frowned and looked at him. “Chloe Sullivan, Met U journalism student. Just like I told you.”

Dean sighed and looked away. “And we’ve never met before. So why the hell do you seem so damn familiar?”

Chloe was silent for a moment. “I don’t know, but…I feel it too,” she admitted almost inaudibly.

He turned to look at her once more, gazing at her intently. She slowly met his gaze. Then his eyes dropped to her lips and she felt her heart skip a beat. Slowly, he reached out and touched her cheek with one hand. Her eyes drifted shut as she leaned into his touch. And then she felt his lips brush over hers lightly.

Unable to stop herself, she slid her arms around his neck and returned the pressure, deepening the kiss as he pulled her closer. After a moment he leaned his forehead against hers. “I been wanting to do that since yesterday.”

A faint smile touched her lips. “Me too.”


	5. Chapter 5

_William smiled against his wife’s hair as they danced slowly to her favorite Brenda Lee song in the middle of the kitchen. God, he loved her. When the song ended, she tilted her head back a little to meet his eyes, a smile on her face. “Thank you for the dance, Kind Sir,” she said in a soft, teasing voice._

_Grinning, he kissed her cheek. “Any time, my lady.”_

_“I should go check on Matthew. I’ll be right back.” She reluctantly let go of his hand and turned to head down the hallway toward their son’s nursery._

_It was hard to believe Matthew was six months old today. Still smiling, he made his way over to the refrigerator to get a bottle of soda._

_That’s when he heard the scream._

_The bottle shattered on the floor as he raced toward the nursery, staring in horror at the sight of his wife pinned to the ceiling, burning up. Underneath her in the crib, Matthew screamed shrilly._

_“Anna!” William screamed. “No!!”_

* * *

Dean shot up in bed, adrenaline pumping through his veins, and a second later, found himself staring at Sam, who was seated at the small table in their hotel room.

“You okay?” Sam asked in surprise.

Wiping a hand across his brow, he looked over at the other bed where Chloe lay sleeping, looking restless and agitated. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied.

“What’d you dream about?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said gruffly, avoiding his brother’s eyes as he climbed out of bed.

“Dean, I’ve had enough nightmares to know when someone else is having one.”

“Yeah, well then maybe you should be more worried about her.” He nodded toward Chloe.

At that exact moment, she whimpered and then her eyes flew wide open.

“Chloe, you all right?” Sam asked in concern.

She sat up slowly, her face dreamed of all color. “Yeah, I…I just…dreamt…”

“What?” he asked gently, moving to sit by her on the bed.

She looked at him and hesitated.

“It helps to talk about it,” he said with a faint smile.

Chloe seemed to deliberate for a moment, then let out a breath. “I was dreaming about this couple…Anna and William and their infant son, Matthew.”

Dean sucked in a breath, staring at her in disbelief.

She met his eyes. “What is it?”

“Were they dancing? In the kitchen?”

Chloe stared back at him. “How did you…”

Sam looked between them, his eyes wide. “Wait a minute…you had the same dream?”

“Well, that can’t be a good coincidence,” he mumbled.

Chloe slowly rose to her feet. “How did you see the dream?” she asked quietly, eyes still locked on Dean’s.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…was it like you were watching it? Or were you there?” The way she emphasized there made him uncomfortable. “You were William,” she whispered, reading his expression.

Swallowing hard, unable to look away from her, he nodded very slightly. “You were Anna?”

Sam frowned. “Okay, so what exactly happened in this dream? There had to be more to the dream than dancing in the kitchen unless you’re both afraid of dancing.”

Both of them avoided his eyes.

“Dean?” he prodded expectantly.

His older brother slowly looked up at him. “The demon…was in the dream.”

Sam stared at him, stunned. “Wait--the demon? The one that killed Mom? And Jess?”

Dean nodded slightly, slowly turning his gaze back to Chloe, who was still very pale. “You okay?” He moved over to her, standing only a couple feet away from her now.

“What does this mean?” Chloe asked quietly, looking at him, and then Sam in hopes of an explanation.

“I have no idea.” Sam let out a breath. “But I think I know someone who can help.” He met his brother’s eyes once more, and Dean nodded.

“Call her. Let her know we’ll be there in a few hours.”

Sam nodded, grabbed his cell phone and headed out of the small motel room.

“What’s going on?”

He drew in a breath. “We’re going to contact our psychic friend.”

Chloe looked at him with an arched eyebrow. “You guys actually call that hotline?”

A small grin tugged at his lips despite the worry that had settled upon him. “Not that psychic friend. Her name’s Missouri. She lives in Lawrence, and she’s a friend of our dad’s,” he explained.

“Oh.” She managed a tiny smile, still shaken by the horrible dream.

Picking right up on her anxiety, Dean slowly slid his arms around her, pulling her close to him and breathing in the sweet scent of her papaya shampoo. “Whatever’s going on…we’ll figure it out,” he told her seriously.

Chloe closed her eyes, winding her arms around his waist and resting her ear against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. “Okay,” she whispered.

A wave of emotion he didn’t recognize or understand washed over him and he pulled away just a little to look at her. He hesitated a moment, then ducked his head and pressed his lips to hers, tasting her for the second time in less than a day.

A spark of heat ignited between them and she slid her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. She didn’t know why she felt so connected to this man she’d barely known for such a short time, but whatever the reason--it was powerful and more intense than anything she’d ever experienced. “What’s happening between us?” she whispered, leaning her forehead against his.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, touching her face.

Chloe gazed up at him for a moment longer. Then she kissed him again.


End file.
